It's What We Call Ourselves
by Lillibella
Summary: "The Avengers. It's kinda what we call ourselves." A look on the lives of the Avengers during and after the Loki Incident. OneShots, Snippets, SongFics.


**Hi Everyone! **

**AVENGERS ASSEMBLE!**

**This is my take on the iPod Shuffle Challenge. These are OneShots and Snippets prompted by different songs on my iPod.**

**Please read and review, it truly makes my day.**

**Enjoy!**

**~Lillibella**

* * *

**1) Sinnerman- Nina Simone**

There was absolutely nowhere to run.

He was bound, gagged, and fell under the stares of six of the most intimidating people on Midgard. Stark's metal muzzle ground into his face and crushed his lips. It had been most fitting after everything that his own brother held the honor of placing it in him like an animal.

"I'm sorry, Loki," he had said, grief in his blue eyes as he attached the silencer to his not-brother, "I only wish I could have done something to save you from yourself."

Loki just stared, green eyes hard as flint. He would have said something clever, but conveniently, he had been muzzled.

No. Nowhere to run this time.

Not even from Thor.

**2) Ain't No Cover- Regina Spektor**

Natasha Romanoff was compromised.

Clint lay in the metal chair, wrists bound, spasming as he shook off the last of Loki's control. He was aware of nothing beyond his own consciousness, and while that was most unusual from the man who saw everything, Natasha was quite glad of it. If he had been conscious and observant, he would have undoubtably seen how utterly frightened she was.

She really should be in the briefing room with Stark and Rogers, she really _should_. But she couldn't take her eyes off of her partner.

There was no point in staying with him, really. There was nothing she could do at this point. But she couldn't leave.

Because she would love Clint Barton until the day she died.

But she wouldn't tell him that.

**3) Somebody That I Used to Know- Gotye**

Thor was angry.

He glared at his brother as he sat in his new cell on Asgard. Loki was as calm as calm can be, although no doubt he was just doing it to irk the god of thunder.

"You know, you could have spoken to me about all of this! You did not need to keep your feelings hidden and locked away in the vault of your mind!"

Loki said nothing.

"I would not have been angered. I would not have laughed. I would not have dismissed it. We could have spoken and learned and worked everything out into the open!"

Loki said nothing.

"Do you remember those nights when a young dark haired boy would run to his brother's room in distress, and we would talk into the we hours of the morning and were comforted by each other's presence, and our distance from the world outside? When did that stop, brother? When did that become impossible?"

Thor watched carefully as Loki's mask of indifference cracked for a fraction of a moment, showing a spark of pain in his green gaze. Loki refused to look at Thor when next he spoke.

"It stopped when I realized I was not your brother. That I was a monster, and you were the golden child. When I was cast aside in favor of the future crowned prince time and time again. That's when."

Thor openly gaped, his heart aching to wrap his arms around his brother in an embrace. Because that's who Loki would always be. His brother. But this person, this bitter, broken being, he knew not who he was. For he was not the brother of olden days.

Yet Thor refused to give up hope. The Loki he used to know was in there, somewhere.

**4) Genius Next Door- Regina Spektor**

"...ark..."

"...Stark..."

"Stark!"

Tony tried desperately to focus on whoever was standing in front of him. Standing? Sitting? What was he doing? Why was he on the floor, again?

"Stark, hey, can you hear me? Tony?"

There was a lot of bulk and sturdy and blue...Oh, Steve! It was Steve, that's who it was...

"Tony, focus on me. Focus on what I'm saying." That was Bruce. How did he know it was Bruce? He couldn't see anything anymore.

"Open your eyes, Tony."

Oh. That made more sense. His eyelids felt like they were made of lead, but he forced them to open anyway. His two teammates stared worriedly at him.

"I'm fine, Cap," he slurred, "No worries. Just...inspecting the floor." Steve rolled his eyes. Bruce's eyebrows creased, and he reached out to touch Tony's cheek and forehead.

"You're pretty warm," he remarked, and peered closer at the inventor's face. Tony assumed by the worry piling in his friends' eyes that they were now taking in the enormous bruise-like circles under his eyes, and the pallor of his skin. Oh well. It was only a matter of time before someone found him out.

"Tony, how long has it been since you've slept?"

"Mmm...about, what, eighty-five, eighty-six hours?"

Both Steve and Bruce started. Bruce's eyes widened to the size of saucers.

"Eighty-_eighty six hours? What for?"_

"I had work to do."

Yeah. No. Really, no. But they didn't have to know that every time he closed his eyes he was back in The Cave, and he had Yinsen's blood on his cold, metal hands. Big brains are good for engineering, but not good for nightmares.

He felt himself being hoisted up and over a broad shoulder. Apparently he had tuned out again, and Cap had taken matters into his own hands.

"Hey hey hey hey hey! What's-" Tony protested, but lost steam.

"Relax, Tony. We're just bringing you to your room." He could feel Steve's voice rumble in his chest. Maybe he _could _relax. With his friends around, maybe he _could _sleep easier.

**5) Good People- Jack Johnson**

"I." Smack. "Really." Smack. "REALLY." Smack. "_HATE." _Smack. "Bad Guys."

Steve tossed his shield for the umpteenth time in the last few minutes. It created a wide arc in the air, thus slicing through the heads of the robot-cyber-things converging on him.

***Ditto.* **He heard Clint grunt through the comms. There was radio silence for a few more minutes, his teammates' huffing breath the only sound in his ear. And then Tony, never subtle, voiced what they were all thinking.

***IS THERE NO ONE ELSE THAT COULD DEAL WITH THESE THINGS RIGHT NOW?***

Steve laughed aloud, causing some of the creatures near him to tilt their heads in confusion before he killed them all.

***Seriously,* **Tony continued, ***What happened to the Fantastic quartet or the Xavier kids?* **Steve heard Natasha laugh quickly, and it made him smile. He didn't exactly know who Stark was talking about, but they were obviously other supers who were decidedly absent.

As Steve punched his hand through the head of another robot to rip out a fistful of wires, he glanced around him, and saw a myriad of robots and no Avengers. Hm. He reiterated the thought.

Where was everyone?

**6) Sitting, Waiting, Wishing- Jack Johnson**

"What now?"

"Now, we wait."

Bruce couldn't accept that. His best friend was in enemy hands, most likely being tortured for information, and they were just gonna _wait?_

"No. No we're not. There has to be something we can do," he fought, pacing back and forth in the briefing room. Natasha, ever the clear-headed one, shook her head.

"You heard Fury. Stark's suit was disabled somehow. His tracking device is shot. JARVIS is offline. The techies are working on that now, but Tony protected that AI like he was his own child. Bruce, this guy is good." Bruce felt his chest get tighter, and willed himself to be calm. He tapped out a random rhythm pattern on his thigh with his fingers.

"So we can't track him. Can we look for evidence of some sort? Use some other program to get Tony's last correspondence or something?"

"No Bruce, we can't. We have nothing. We just have to wait for whoever this is to make a move."

Bruce slumped, sinking down into a chair and holding his head in his hands. He hoped and prayed silently that his friend returned to them in one piece.

**7) Vindicated- Dashboard Confessional**

"I KNEW IT!"

Tony did a little dance around the kitchen table that was not flattering, nor was it fitting for an adult. Clint sighed and passed a hand over his face.

"Knew what, Stark?" The inventor whirled around and pointed an accusatory finger at the archer with untempered glee on his face.

"YOU. You. I knew you were in the vents. You told me you weren't in the vents, but you were in the vents." Clint grinned and shook his head.

"You can't prove that," he said, giving Tony an innocent look. This only magnified the intense look on the other man's face that resembled a cat that's cornered a mouse.

"Ah, but I can, my friend. I can," he said, and Clint froze. Tony continued.

"The other day, when I accused you of sneaking and spying and general thievery, you denied it. So I installed sensors in all of the systems throughout the building, and I CAUGHT YOU." Tony pulled out his tablet, poked at it a few times, and then shoved it at Clint's face. The numbers on it were unintelligible to him, who had skipped through most of the rigorous S.H.I.E.L.D tech training, (other than his weapons and tools, of course), but Tony obviously recognized them as proof.

"There. Floor 32. I caught you. There are alarms in there now. You can't steal my stuff."

Damn, thought Clint, there goes my favorite hiding place.

**8) Wish Is for You, Alex Day**

The room was pitch black. Hm, Steve thought, that was weird for the room the the Avengers had dubbed the Lounge. He shrugged it off, and flipped the light switch on his way in.

"SURPRIIIIIIIIIISE!"

The cry of five Avengers and one Pepper Potts met Steve's stunned form frozen in the doorway.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"

Birthday?...Oh, birthday! It was his birthday! The thought had completely slipped his mind. In his defense, time had been a little bit funny recently. How old did that make him now? Twenty five? Ninety five?

The team was clustered around a large table that held a beautiful cake, a few wrapped parcels, and...

"This is for you, Oh Captain My Captain," offered Tony, who picked up the red, white and blue party hat and ceremoniously placed it atop Steve's head. Pepper came up on his other side and gave him a kiss on the cheek. Steve blushed.

"Happy birthday, Steve!" she whispered in his ear, then moved off to stand beside her billionaire boyfriend. He didn't have time to reply before Thor was upon him. He was suddenly clasped in the tightest hug he had ever experienced in his life.

"Congratulations Captain! I wish you the best thoughts and deeds in your coming year!" he boomed. Steve hesitantly patted him on the back.

"...Thanks, Thor," he choked out, and Thor released him, beaming. The other members of his team wished him well in much the same manner, and they proceeded to usher him over to the couch and crowd around him for an "old movie marathon." Well, they called them old movies. Steve called them childhood.

A few hours in, _It's A Wonderful Life _was paused when Pepper brought out the cake, candles lit and glowing. A chorus of "Happy Birthday" started up, sung loudly and off key by some parties (ehem...Stark) and the cake was set in front of him.

Steve looked around, the happy faces of his teammates standing out in the warm light of the candles. As he blew them out, he wished for this moment of peace and friendship to last forever.

**9) Everybody Loves Me- OneRepublic**

Natasha hated paparazzi.

They were hard enough to handle if you were used to the public eye. Natasha was a spy. She did her best work unseen, so even the thought of the paparazzi shoving their noses in everyone's business and exposing it to the world made her angry. And worse, it made her nervous.

After the Loki Incident, she was immediately forced into the lime light. She tried her hardest to step out of it, but it just kept swinging back around to catch her again.

"Black Widow, how long did you train to become that flexible?"

"Black Widow, what's your real name?"

"Black Widow, is it true you've killed over a hundred men?"

Her name was Natalia Romanova. She did not 'train', she was brainwashed by the Russian government to become a murdering seductress at the age when most girls were taking off the training wheels on their bicycles. She's most definitely killed a hundred men, the probability being way more.

And that was none of your damn business, thank you very much.

Which is why she admired Tony Stark. That would never come out of her mouth, ever, but it was true. The man showed such charisma and charm and a suave attitude any and every time cameras were placed in front of him. He always knew exactly what to say. Everyone loved him, even when they hated him. It was so strange, and so compelling to watch. He didn't turn into a stuttering mess, he didn't go blank at the simplest question, and he most certainly didn't punch a newspaper reporter in the face. Which, of course, she didn't do either. Of course.

**10) If I Could- Jack Johnson**

In tough times, they all thought it. If only. What if. If I could.

Tony would have stopped making weapons, turned his life around and went after Pepper earlier, if he could.

Steve would have jumped in front of Erskine's bullet for the sake of the rest of the troops, if he could.

Bruce would have told himself that he was being stupid and never tried to recreate the serum, if he could.

Thor would have caught the signs of Loki's pain and jealousy and saved his brother, if he could.

Natasha would have resisted the Black Widow program and lived the life of a normal woman, if she could.

Clint would have stayed with his brother and never picked up a bow, if he could.

But, none of them really would.

Because Tony wouldn't have had the need to build the Ironman suit and prove to everyone that the Stark family wasn't all about guns. Because Steve wouldn't have saved countless of American soldiers and provided hope for a broken nation. Because Bruce wouldn't have learned to count his blessings and become a doctor to appreciate health and life. Because Thor would not have met Jane or Eric or Darcy, and would have stayed the foolish, headstrong young man he had been before. Because Natasha wouldn't have met Clint, and Clint wouldn't have met Natasha, each other's soul mates in every sense of the term.

Because they would not have been this team, this unit, this family.

And that made the hard times worth it.


End file.
